So, school is re-opened and the much-dreaded h-word ‘homework’ is making you worried and tense again, right? When the session is on, people find it extremely difficult to cope with the heavy homework load and to battle with homework is very common.
Finishing homework can take a lot of time. When my son and I sit for his school assignments, we are literally battling over the assignments and almost on the verge of losing our sanity. It is indeed a challenge where you have to spend dollars on craft supplies and spend hours in completing your homework.
Understand the purpose:
Before you overcome the challenges of homework, it is a must that you understand the purpose of doing homework. Homework is not supposed to teach a student new concepts. It is supposed to make a student practice, what he or she has learned in school.
Homework should teach you skills like –
- Problem-solving
- Innovation
- Time management
- Doubt clarification etc.
However, in the current homework trend that has been popular over the past few decades, most students are burdened with loads of homework that is causing them stress, anxiety of completing assignments on time and the scores that these homework assignments and projects bear. Homework is losing its importance and purpose. The focus has been more on the academics and less on the other purposes.
With that being said, it is a must that homework should be done in such a way that struggles are avoided and benefits are experienced.
What to keep in mind?
Before you start doing your homework, you must understand the average time that you should assign to your homework sessions.
- 10 minutes for elementary school
- An hour during middle school
- 2 and a half hour in high school.
Any further time spent on doing homework is unnecessary and loses the purpose. Moreover, students must be given enough play time, down time and family time to students.
Tips on how to avoid homework challenges:
- Make a plan:
The first thing is to organize. Organization is very important if you want to avoid the challenges. The maximum challenge comes from the fact that you do not know which task to start with. Make a list of all your assignments and determine the deadline. Thus, you will be able to prioritize your task easily.
Start with the one that is most important and you must complete soon. If all tasks are equally important, you must start with the one that is easiest and takes the least amount of time.
- Understand the problem:
As a parent, you too have a great amount of duty towards your child’s homework. When my son was in middle school, he often procrastinated in doing his homework. I thought he was simply delaying his work. But when I dug deep into the matter, I discovered that he had been inattentive in class and had not cleared his concept regarding the task. Hence, he tried to avoid his tasks.
- Take part in your child’s homework:
Your child’s homework is not your homework; I am not asking you to do it or complete it on your child’s behalf. But, you must help your child to generate ideas, listen to what he is planning to complete it and help him to think in the right direction.
Be a guide to him and not his partner in doing his homework. When my son asks for help, I help him by showing him some examples and by solving a few problems that will clear his concept. But I choose the examples and problems that are not part of his homework assignment. When he asks me to edit a paper, I go through it and tell him the sections and areas in which he could make some changes and also give him ideas regarding the changes. But, I do not make the changes or edit the mistakes right away on my own.
- Don’t be too hard on your child:
Having a schedule for completing the homework is good. But, making it too difficult for the child is not at all recommended. There are parents, who ask their children to start doing their tasks as soon as they enter the home. This is absolutely unnecessary. After school, they must get some time to relax and refresh.
There are students, who are perfectionists. If your child is so, then it is fantastic. But if he is not comfortable with this schedule, you must not force him just because your neighbour’s child or your friend’s child does that. Simply create a verbal contract with him or even a written one, if he prefers and creates a schedule or homework routine that is comfortable with him. Keep in mind the extracurricular activities that he is engaged into.
- Take professional help:
This is probably the best way to avoid any sort of homework challenges. Be it the need for idea or guidance, the professionals can help your child in overcoming and avoiding the challenges. There are situations when I can’t help my son. He prefers the online tutorials and homework assistance services at that time. He says it helps him to clear his doubts.
Homework challenges can well be managed, if you know exactly how to do it. Do not delay or procrastinate and try and identify the problems. Thus, your child will be able to complete his or her homework on time and make most of his homework session.